Group With Link to Rays Is Said to Show Interest in Mets

A group that includes an owner of the Tampa Bay Rays has shown interest in buying a share of the Mets, becoming one of about a dozen serious investors to emerge in the auction for at least a quarter of the club.

Along with the other contenders, the group has paid a nonrefundable $25,000 application fee to Major League Baseball for permission to see the Mets’ financial records, a necessary step before serious talks can begin.

Steven Starker, the co-founder of BTIG, a global trading company, is the main investor in the group, which has had a preliminary meeting with Allen & Company, the advisers hired by the Mets to help sell 25 percent or more of the team, according to two people familiar with the investment group.

Starker’s consortium includes Kenny Dichter, a co-founder of Marquis Jet, a company that pioneered the fractional private jet card concept; and Doug Ellin, the creator of “Entourage,” the HBO series; and Randy Frankel, a minority owner of the Rays.

The group’s interest in the Mets was first reported by The New York Post, but the Rays connection was not known until now.

Frankel would sell his share in the Rays should his group’s bid for the Mets be successful, people with knowledge of the investment group said.

Another investment group led by Anthony Scaramucci, a managing partner at SkyBridge, an asset management company, has also submitted an application to baseball to see the Mets’ books, according to a person familiar with their intentions. Scaramucci’s group is not seeking a controlling interest in the team and is positioning itself as a friendly shareholder, this person said.

Contrary to published reports, Scaramucci’s group does not include Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager.

Scaramucci was traveling Wednesday and was unavailable to comment.

Numerous sports bankers have said most groups looking at the Mets would be reluctant to be limited to a minority interest in the Mets, particularly because of the financial problems facing the team.

Baseball officials have spent several weeks vetting applications. The application forms ask potential investors about their individual and business backgrounds; arrests or convictions; penalties levied by a government agency; and possible links to performance-enhancing drugs.

Applicants are also asked if they have ever filed for bankruptcy, have been subpoenaed by a grand jury, and about any associations with baseball players or teams. Because many of the groups include a half-dozen or more participants, it has taken baseball a lot of time to vet the applications, although at least one group has been told by baseball that it might be approved to see the Mets’ books by mid-March. Meanwhile, a clearer picture of the applicants is beginning to form.

Starker, for instance, was a senior executive at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, a New York brokerage firm that was acquired in 2000 by Goldman Sachs for $6.5 billion. After three years at Goldman, Starker struck out on his own and started BTIG.

Frankel lends Starker’s group credibility because he is part of an ownership that helped turn a perennial last-place team into a formidable contender that made it to the World Series in 2008.

Six of Starker’s former partners at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, including Frankel, purchased the Rays in 2004. One of the six, Stuart Sternberg, is now the principal owner of the Rays. Sternberg grew up in New York, attended St. John’s University and rooted for the Mets, which has led to speculation that he might look to sell the Rays and buy a controlling share of the Mets.

Another group includes David Heller, a Goldman Sachs senior executive, and Marc Spilker, a former Goldman Sachs executive who recently became president of Apollo Global Management, a large New York private equity firm.

Alison Leigh Cowan and Ken Belson contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on March 3, 2011, on page B17 of the New York edition with the headline: Group With Link to Rays Is Said to Show Interest in Mets. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe